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Seager, Montero back Hernandez’s 100th victory

HOUSTON — The Seattle Mariners finally scored some runs and helped Felix Hernandez pick up his 100th career win.

Kyle Seager and Jesus Montero each smacked a two-run homer in the Seattle Mariners’ 7-1 win over the Houston Astros in the opener of a three-game set.

Hernandez (2-2) fanned nine and surrendered five hits and a walk over six scoreless frames for the Mariners, who had dropped five of their last six games coming in.

Hernandez had been stuck on 99 wins since his Opening Day victory at Oakland. He suffered subsequent losses to the White Sox and Rangers before taking a no- decision against the Tigers on Wednesday.

Seattle’s offense, which averaged an American-League worst 3.05 runs per contest coming in, had totaled only 13 runs over its last eight games.

Rick Ankiel hit a solo shot for Houston, which has lost eight of its last nine tilts. Brad Peacock (1-2) allowed seven runs on nine hits and a walk over 4 1/3 innings to pick up the loss.

The M’s opened the scoring with a run in the first and plated a pair in each of the third, fourth and fifth innings to jump out to a big lead.

Justin Smoak grounded an RBI single down the first base line with runners on the corners and two away in the opening frame. Seager belted a no-doubt two- run shot into the second deck in the third, while Montero cracked a two-run blast off the facade in left-center in the fourth.

Kendrys Morales hit a towering solo homer into the first couple row of seats and Montero lifted a sacrifice fly to right later in the fifth to give the M’s a 7-0 advantage.

The Astros got on the board in the seventh when Ankiel launched a solo shot into the Crawford Boxes in left.

Game Notes

Dustin Ackley had three hits and scored a run for Seattle … Peacock has not gotten past the fifth inning this season … The M’s were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position.